Nothing personal? Obama says no nation avoids US spying

U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcome French President Francois Hollande to the White House for a State Dinner in Washington February 11, 2014 (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque) / Reuters

Ally or not, the US does not have an agreement with any country that would prevent espionage in light of national security concerns, President Obama said on Tuesday, prior to an official state dinner with a European head of state.

During a joint press conference with French President Francois
Hollande, Obama was asked whether his selection of France for the
first state visit of his second term as president signalled a
post-spying agreement with America’s European ally. Through
documents supplied by former National Security Agency contractor
Edward Snowden, it was revealed that the NSA spied on French
citizens and the internal communications of
France's foreign ministry and diplomats.

“There’s no country where we have a no-spy agreement,”
Obama answered.

The US has long worked on global surveillance operations in
conjunction with the other members of the so-called
“Five Eyes” contingency: Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Yet even the Five
Eyes countries have not committed to avoid spying on one another.

Obama went on to highlight the changes he has ordered US agencies
to make regarding direct surveillance of foreign leaders.

In announcing those changes in January, Obama
said that the US is the “world’s only superpower” and
must continue to conduct operations allies are not able to
accomplish on their own.

“We will not apologize simply because our services may be
more effective,” he said, “but heads of state and
governments with whom we work closely . . . should feel confident
that we are treating them as real partners.”

The US government “will continue to gather information about
the intentions” of foreign governments, Obama said. Yet he
also promised the NSA “will not monitor the communications of
heads of state” atop the ranks of allied partners unless
there are compelling national security purposes at stake.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act would be
subject to reform as well, Obama announced, allowing the US to
intercept the communications of overseas targets with important
information without putting as many Americans and foreign persons
incidentally targeted under the looking glass.

Speaking after Obama on Tuesday, Hollande said the two nations
had put the controversy behind them, though he said foreign
citizens’ privacy must be respected on some level.

"Mutual trust must be based on respect for each other's
country, but also based on the protection of private life, of
personal data," Hollande said.

There has been no indication to date that Hollande was the target
of any NSA spying.

“Following the revelations that appeared due to Snowden, we
clarified things, Mr. Obama and myself, we clarified things. And
then this was in the past,” Hollande added. “Mutual
trust has been restored.”

Hollande’s restored faith in the Franco-American alliance comes
just in time for Tuesday night’s state dinner at the White House.
Included on the guest list for Tuesday’s banquet honoring
Hollande is NSA Director Keith Alexander.